Niloufar slipped into her father's scriptorium after dark to retrieve one harmless thing — a love poem she'd written for her dead mother and never had the nerve to give her.Eighteen years old. Banned from the scrolls since she was sixteen. Hidden now behind a tapestry of Darius hunting lions, the papyrus crumpled against her chest, she meant to be gone before anyone came.Then two sets of footsteps crossed the threshold. Her father's dragging limp — the foot a horse had kicked when she was nine. And a stranger's, light and quick, like a cat walking a wall."I cannot be serious, Bahram. The man is a viper.""I know what he is. I also know what he has on me."What he has is a letter. A petition to the general Mardonius, pleading mercy for the rebel Ionian cities — a letter Niloufar copied in her own steady hand two summers ago. She was proud of it. She thought they were doing something good.In the court of Xerxes, a plea is the same as an accusation.If that list reaches Susa before the new moon, it will name her father. Her uncle. Every man who signed. And the whole house will be erased like ink bled through papyrus.So a daughter who was never meant to see the scroll takes it — and runs.Across the ancient Royal Road she goes, a rolled secret pressed to her chest, a traitor's horseman cresting every ridge behind her. Inns where the wrong word is a death sentence. A river that swallows the truth. A guide whose loyalty is for sale to the highest bidder. A mother's buried past rising out of the dust to meet her.To save the family that hid the truth from her, Niloufar must outrun an empire, choose between blood and water, and decide whether some letters really are worth burning for.The Silk Road Girl is a sweeping, heartrending YA historical adventure about a stolen letter, a family on the edge of ruin, a perilous flight across ancient Persia, a lost inheritance, a secret buried by time, and a girl who refuses to disappear.Perfect for readers who love epic historical journeys, brave heroines, ancient-empire intrigue, family-secret reveals, and breathless danger on the open road. A standalone story.